This study evaluates an investment project concerning the redevelopment of the public lighting of the Municipality of Rome. In particular, we consider the replacing of the traditional lamps of the system with LED lamps. We consider the factors that affect this kind of project: the cost of energy, the manteinance cost, the investment cost and the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). Our results underline the reduction of energy consumption and of the maintenance costs, lower emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere, the reduction of light pollution, the positive effects on road safety and the indipendence by incentives.

The position of the Moon in relation to the Earth and the Sun gives rise to several predictable cycles, and natural changes in nighttime light intensity are known to cause alterations to physiological processes and behaviors in many animals. The limited research undertaken to date on the physiological responses of animals to the lunar illumination has exclusively focused on the synodic lunar cycle (full moon to full moon, or moon phase) but the moon's orbit—its distance from the Earth—may also be relevant. Every month, the moon moves from apogee, its most distant point from Earth—and then to perigee, its closest point to Earth. Here, we studied wild barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) to investigate the influence of multiple interacting lunar cycles on the physiology of diurnally active animals. Our study, which uses biologging technology to continually monitor body temperature and heart rate for an entire annual cycle, asks whether there is evidence for a physiological response to natural cycles in lunar brightness in wild birds, particularly “supermoon” phenomena, where perigee coincides with a full moon. There was a three‐way interaction between lunar phase, lunar distance, and cloud cover as predictors of nighttime mean body

temperature, such that body temperature was highest on clear nights when the full

moon coincided with perigee moon. Our study is the first to report the physiological responses of wild birds to “supermoon” events; the wild geese responded to the combination of two independent lunar cycles, by significantly increasing their body temperature at night. That wild birds respond to natural fluctuations in nighttime ambient light levels support the documented responses of many species to anthropogenic sources of artificial light, that birds seem unable to override. As most biological systems are arguably organized foremost by light, this suggests that any interactions between lunar cycles and local weather conditions could have significant impacts on the energy budgets of birds.

This study uses nightlight time data and machine learning techniques to predict industrial development in Africa. The results provide the first evidence on how machine learning techniques and nightlight data can be used to predict economic development in places where subnational data are missing or not precise. Taken together, the research confirms four groups of important determinants of industrial growth: natural resources, agriculture growth, institutions, and manufacturing imports. Our findings indicate that Africa should follow a more

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) maintains and operates numerous park units along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, extending into the Caribbean to Commonwealth territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Several of these units were in the direct path of hurricanes Irma and Maria during the 2017 hurricane season and suffered considerable damage, including power outages, structural damage, and destroyed equipment. In February 2018, a task force deployed to three locations in the Caribbean to assess hurricane damage to the existing lighting systems and energy infrastructure. The primary objective was providing related recommendations for resiliency upgrades to the lighting and electrical supply systems, with special added emphasis on the numerous goals, objectives, and requirements of the NPS (such as protecting night skies, wildlife, wilderness character, cultural resources, etc.). Numerous opportunities exist for simultaneously increasing resiliency and preserving natural environments within these sensitive locations, and technological approaches that work in the extreme conditions encountered here should readily translate to many other less complex sites across the greater park system. Ultimately, care and attention to detail in implementation are the most important underlying requirements for success across the myriad needs likely encountered at these sites, once commitment to resolving them has been secured

In everyday life, we take for granted that public authorities protect us from an unhealthy environment, including light and noise pollution. In recent years, about 1200 kilometres of noise barriers have been built alongside Dutch highways with costs approaching a billion euros.[1] Also, more than 50 cities in the

Netherlands have successfully taken initiatives to reduce the artificial light pollution in the past six years, as our country is well known to rank among the literally most illuminated ones in the world.[2] These investments seem to be reasonable as adverse health effects from environmental light and noise pollution have long and widely been recognised.[3,4]

How these potentially detrimental effects of artificial light and distressing noise acting on the human body translate into the best possible care that we strive to provide within our modern ICU environment is an area of increasing professional awareness, interest and research.

Yet, we all realise that not only light and noise, but numerous physical and psychological stressors may negatively affect individual ICU patients. Also, the impact of these factors may vary considerably among individuals, which makes it even more difficult for caregivers to prioritise among apparently competing aspects of care in their daily practice.[5]

A comprehensive, narrative review by Koen Simons and colleagues in this issue of the Netherlands Journal of Critical Care provides us with up-to-date information on the ‘impact of intensive care unit light and noise exposure on critically

ill patients’.[6] Here, we gain more insights and learn how a multimodal approach to our ICU environment may aid to optimise light exposure and reduce noise. This may not only improve our patients’ sleep and general wellbeing, but also

reduce the incidence of delirium. The latter seems especially relevant since the pharmacological prevention of delirium has repeatedly been shown to be disappointing, as recently confirmed again in a large Dutch trial.[7] All this evidence sets the stage to further promote nonpharmacological interventions in the ICU to prevent delirium.[8]

Therefore, we should do our best to limit controllable stressors in the ICU in order to improve patient comfort and hopefully enhance the individual prognosis.[6] As our traditional focus on the medical and technical aspects of critical care has led us to asymptotically reach current therapeutic optima; human factors